During the first year of the pandemic, a sweeping new security law and clashes on the streets of Hong Kong raised concerns among art industry insiders with connections to the city, who predicted the end of Hong Kong as an international metropolis. The restrictions that came with the city’s “zero Covid” policy did not seem to mitigate this widespread perception.
And yet, galleries and auction houses continue to proliferate in the beleaguered city. According to the latest Art Basel/UBS art market report, at least 25 new auction businesses and approximately 30 new galleries have opened in Greater China since 2020, and at least seven new art institutions have been established in 2021 in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Among the latest to open in Hong Kong are Double Q Gallery, established by the local collector Queenie Rosita Law; Property Holdings Development Group (PHD Group), founded by former De Sarthe director Willem Molesworth and his wife, Ysabelle Cheung, the former managing editor of ArtAsiaPacific; and Odds and Ends, launched by Fiona Ho and Nathalie Ng, formerly of David Zwirner and Gallery HZ, whose doors closed at the end of 2021 (Ho also worked at the now closed gallery).
May 17, 2022
